Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 2-0 Mansfield Town

OldBlueLady said:

Totally disagree with that. His head was first on the ball in practically every challenge. As Norwich shrimper said, their forward Oliver, was doing ok in the air until Bolger came on. He's taller and a bit more solid in his heading than Thompson. I saw two minor mistakes, that was all, less than Coker and Barrett.

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Unless I was hallucinating Oliver beat Bolger to the ball in the air nearly every time in the first half, I was in the South upper and had a pretty good view! Bolger seemed to jump too early and got done every time though admittedly he did improve after half time.

rayleigh dan said:

Maybe Thompson did lose every challenge, in which case I was overly generous, however in the first half at least Bolger lost far more than he won, he also seemed to jump in a fashion which left him out of place to get back, I still think he's a liability and would pick Thompson over him any day, if Bolger plays Monday I predict we will lose, if I'm wrong I'm happy to eat humble pie!

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He played today and we won 2-0 so how does him playing on Monday mean we will lose? I'm no Bolger fan but he did ok today, not great but ok.

davewebbsbrain said:

He played today and we won 2-0 so how does him playing on Monday mean we will lose? I'm no Bolger fan but he did ok today, not great but ok.

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Still the one player most likely to have a catastrophic error/red card for me. As I said if he plays Monday and we win I'll be happy to eat my words!

davewebbsbrain said:

He played today and we won 2-0 so how does him playing on Monday mean we will lose? I'm no Bolger fan but he did ok today, not great but ok.

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I'll admit that comment (if Bolger plays Monday we'll lose) was harsh, and maybe 4/10 was harsh too, however does anyone here have any faith in Bolger to play consistently well? He's been the biggest let down of the season for me, especially considering we paid a fee. Maybe I've been overly harsh on my rating today but I'd stick to my point that I'd prefer Prosser/Thompson, they've been much more consistent than Bolger over the season.

Juggler90 said:

Agree with most of this. Barrett was great today.

I thought Atkinson had a very good game too and a contender for MOM. Very positive, beat some players today and really ran at people and nice to see him score a goal. Should definitely be happy with his performance today.

Also was happy to see Bolger do well. His confidence must be quite low and I was willing him to do well when he came on (as were all the people around me) and I think he did just that and we need to get behind him as he may be in the team for a while.

On a slightly odd end note I thought the ref was great today. It wasn't the most difficult game to referee, seemed and he could have played an advantage or two but overall hardly noticed him and the game flowed well.

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Totally agree...cracking 1st half ..Timlin lay-off excellent, 2nd half..seemed to go asleep, couple of early chances to make it 3-0 and put the game to bed, ref let the game flow and generally the players responded well :clap: . Is Thompson's injury serious, or, going off, precautionary ??

davewebbsbrain said:

Apart from when their player led with his elbow and blatantly elbowed Pigott in the face. The ref talked to the player, pointed to 2 or 3 places around the pitch then walked off. Red card all day long in my opinion

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I said exactly the same and had a good view of it from the East greens. No bookings for either side that I can remember today. I don't think iv'e seen a seen a cardless game in a while.

Bolger debate - I thought great in the air, good timely tackles (B+)...distribution, (C-), must practice and try harder

Harry Bullocks said:

Totally agree...cracking 1st half ..Timlin lay-off excellent, 2nd half..seemed to go asleep, couple of early chances to make it 3-0 and put the game to bed, ref let the game flow and generally the players responded well :clap: . Is Thompson's injury serious, or, going off, precautionary ??

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After the game on the radio Brown said that Thompson had an on going shoulder problem, but today it was the other shoulder. He said words to the effect of he had close to zero chance of playing on Monday, and that the long term prognosis wasn't good iw he will always have issues with his shoulders.

Harry Bullocks said:

Bolger debate - I thought great in the air, good timely tackles (B+)...distribution, (C-), must practice and try harder

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Agree with you there totally HB. I think Bolger could develop well under Barratt's wing but we are running out of games for that to happen and I'm not sure we should even take the risk whilst we are in with a shout of promotion.

Thought we looked a bit narrow first half especially defending as McLaughlin seemed to stay forward as if we were playing 4-3-3. Barrett motm for me too and seemed to give everyone around him a lift which we've been missing.

Adam's performance was worth the entrance fee alone,his sheer passion for the cause was wonderful to behold.
Bolger has the ability and needs to settle,probably very nervous but Imo an excellent player is there somewhere!
Ok first half where we looked comfortable and we thought we would defo see for the first time under Phil 3 goals in games we attended,yet MT were let off the hook and looked like Stevenage revisited.

2 goals,clean sheet,3 points....well done to Phil and his team....Does anyone know if Adam can really walk on water.

I won't go so far as to give him the mom award - there were instances in the second half where the same old traits (wrong side and trying to cuddle players in our own area) BUT I will go so far as to say that was a fantastic performance on many fronts. Vocal, passionate, encouraging and a first half performance of beauty. When Bolger came on he had an understandable shaky first ten minutes but he grew in confidence and I put that down to AB. Bolger made a couple of mistakes in the second half but so did the likes of Prior when he was young. Other than that Timlin, Atkinson and Corr get my vote. Coker I found frustrating. Solid yes but too often slowing down forward momentum with needless trickery. Loved their chunky number 9. Good player, wrong team.

So interesting to read the comments about Bolger.
I've been a huge critic in the past ( as have many ) , but thought the guy was very good yesterday , apart from one mistake in the second half.
Think AB was contributory in that , but mostly down to Bolgers own character which is a real positive.
The striker for Mansfield ( No 25 I think ) was a decent player , but I thought Bolger was decisive and made very strong interceptions with both head and feet.
One tackle in the first half was a real high point for me.
Some people have already made up their minds which to me is wrong.
Players improve ( Prosser ) and should be given time and support.
A few people around me yesterday were prime examples of those supporters.
Moaned when he came on , silent when he made excellent clearances and tackles and then loudly complained when he mucked up in the second half.
Fine , have your own opinions , complain at mistakes if you like ( even though it's not he most supportive thing IMO ) , but at least encourage our own players when they do well.
Dont get me wrong , not the finished article and prone to errors , but a player in the making.
For me yesterday , for various reasons , including performance , Cian Bolger was MOM. *

(* p.s. AB was also superb )

Fairport said:

Agree with others that Adam Barrett was MOM today. Him and Bolger looked more comfortable together than any other pairing at centre-back this season even allowing for the fact that the opposition was poor.

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Totally Agree.

What we have lacked is the leadership qualities that Adam Barrett brings us. Bolger looked really composed and I really believe that Adam would have benefited both of the young centre half's this year as they really could have learned from him.
I cannot believe that so many people still give Bolger low ratings and stick as I honestly thought he hardly put a foot wrong and I sincerely believe it was purely due to playing alongside Adam.
I honestly believe also that Thompson would have benefited from playing alongside Adam and learned quite a bit which would only have improved his game.

Wish we had got Barrett at start of season. His whole personality and leadership made a lot of difference yesterday.

dannypav said:

So interesting to read the comments about Bolger.
I've been a huge critic in the past ( as have many ) , but thought the guy was very good yesterday , apart from one mistake in the second half.
Think AB was contributory in that , but mostly down to Bolgers own character which is a real positive.
The striker for Mansfield ( No 25 I think ) was a decent player , but I thought Bolger was decisive and made very strong interceptions with both head and feet.
One tackle in the first half was a real high point for me.
Some people have already made up their minds which to me is wrong.
Players improve ( Prosser ) and should be given time and support.
A few people around me yesterday were prime examples of those supporters.
Moaned when he came on , silent when he made excellent clearances and tackles and then loudly complained when he mucked up in the second half.
Fine , have your own opinions , complain at mistakes if you like ( even though it's not he most supportive thing IMO ) , but at least encourage our own players when they do well.
Dont get me wrong , not the finished article and prone to errors , but a player in the making.
For me yesterday , for various reasons , including performance , Cian Bolger was MOM. *

(* p.s. AB was also superb )

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That is the key point. I have no idea why people form an opinion on players and then only see the good or bad to match their opinion. Unfortunately there is loads of that at Roots Hall and on here in particular. We've seen the same over the last few seasons with Paul Smith and Anthony Straker to name but two. They have a couple of bad games, then people just pick on every mistake and completely ignore all the things we they do well to suit an agenda...really baffles me?

We are a Division 4 team, our players are going to have good and bad days. If they were always excellent they would not be playing for us....I really like Ben Coker at left back,,,but at Stevenage he was absolutely awful....I also haven't rated Barrett or Bolger particularly, but both were excellent yesterday (there, it is possible).

Even on this thread, with Bolger, people are coming on grudgingly saying he was good in the air, but focussing on his weak distribution etc... What was needed yesterday was someone to come in and get hold of their No.25 who was bullying Thompson (and Barrett at times) and that's exactly what he did. Bolger is a Centre Back and he did his job very well yesterday. If his distribution was great, but he lost all the aerial challenges we'd probably be looking at a different result, so let's please see the positives.

Yeah he might have had poor games in the past, he will probably have poor games in the future, but that doesn't prevent him from credit for a strong performance yesterday

Benfleet Blue said:

Totally Agree.

What we have lacked is the leadership qualities that Adam Barrett brings us. Bolger looked really composed and I really believe that Adam would have benefited both of the young centre half's this year as they really could have learned from him.
I cannot believe that so many people still give Bolger low ratings and stick as I honestly thought he hardly put a foot wrong and I sincerely believe it was purely due to playing alongside Adam.
I honestly believe also that Thompson would have benefited from playing alongside Adam and learned quite a bit which would only have improved his game.

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Adam's infectious style of play can only benefit every player,He steadied Bolger who then grew in stature.

mrsblue said:

Adam's performance was worth the entrance fee alone,his sheer passion for the cause was wonderful to behold.
Bolger has the ability and needs to settle,probably very nervous but Imo an excellent player is there somewhere!
Ok first half where we looked comfortable and we thought we would defo see for the first time under Phil 3 goals in games we attended,yet MT were let off the hook and looked like Stevenage revisited.

2 goals,clean sheet,3 points....well done to Phil and his team....Does anyone know if Adam can really walk on water.

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If only Mansfield had scored four goals then your right it would have been Stevenage revisited.

You must have had a great day yesterday..... well done to Phil... I had to check the date wasn't still April 1st:winking:

I know zoners are obsessed with our back four, but that's not the area that will get us to Wembley. So as you are a lover of pace...What did you think of McLaughlin?

rigsby said:

If only Mansfield had scored four goals then your right it would have been Stevenage revisited.

You must have had a great day yesterday..... well done to Phil... I had to check the date wasn't still April 1st:winking:

I know zoners are obsessed with our back four, but that's not the area that will get us to Wembley. So as you are a lover of pace...What did you think of McLaughlin?

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Most of the time under Phil we have been treated to turgid football with limp performances whilst the players appeared uninterested,yesterday was a breath of fresh air,I put it down to Adam who seemed to get the entire team up for it,it was a delight to be at the Hall,good day.

Macca Imo will be too good for this level once his match fitness is up to speed,looked a real handful at times so impressed by him.

The number 25 for Mansfield was a disgrace to football. Every time he went up to contend a header, his elbow was up high and aimed towards our player - always angled and horizontal. The challenge by him on Thomson, when Thomson dislocated his right shoulder, was no different - elbow aimed at Thomson's head. I'll do my best to tip off all the fan forums of the teams he will be playing against to get him sanctioned and hopefully to mend his ways before he does someone some permanent damage. Wouldn't want him in my team. As I say, a disgrace.

Congrats to Bolger. Good game and lets hope he goes from strength to strength. Time to get some support going for the lad.

Barrett's footballing character is superb. That is the standard all our players need to reach every week. In fairness some do.